Chapter 3069 Sea of Fate
At this thought, Lin Xun no longer hesitated and directly headed in the direction of the Nameless Forbidden Zone. Soon, a bizarre region came into view.
There, the dome of the sky had collapsed into one massive black hole after another. They were so eerily still that the sight of them sent chills down one's spine. On the earth, there were deep chasms and abysses everywhere, densely packed and running endlessly.
This was the famous zone where ‘the world had crumbled.’[1] Back then, the Dao Ruleless Bell had brought Lin Xun here. At the very end of this bizarre heaven and earth was the Nameless Forbidden Zone, a piece of void drowned in complete, eternal darkness.
Being back to this place as an intermediate Creation Eternal, Lin Xun's heart still slightly palpitated when he looked at the darkness-shrouded Nameless Forbidden Zone from a far distance.
After a quiet moment, he began moving towards it. The region was desolate. The silence was terrifying. The huge holes in the sky resembled hollow eyes, and the abysses and chasms on the ground resembled bloodthirsty mouths. Walking among them, Lin Xun felt waves of pressure washing over him.
Surprisingly, however, nothing dangerous happened along the way. Less than ten minutes later, he stepped into the piece of void that was drowned in darkness. This place was muddy. There was no sky, no earth, and terrains to speak of, only depressing darkness and nothingness. Being in it, one could not help but shudder despite feeling nothing.
Something told Lin Xun to operate his cultivation, and he did, growing more and more cautious and vigilant.
Now, where is that Sea of Fate?
He spread his spirit sense and carefully perceived the surroundings. A long time later, he suddenly caught a faint flash of light in the extremely distant darkness. It was like very feeble breathing that could be easily overlooked.
Lin Xun immediately shot toward it. Gradually, he realized that the flash of light was actually a mysterious portal. It seemed to be illusory, flickering in the dark and surrounded by an obscure law power fluctuation.
When Lin Xun probed it with his spirit sense, a sudden change arose. The invisible power fluctuation surged out and submerged him. Before he could react, his vision went black, and he was swept away against his will.
What is this place?
After no one knew how long, Lin Xun regained consciousness, and the first thing that greeted his eyes was a boundless ocean! This ocean stretched infinitely across the sky. The white waves rushed towards an unknown distance that could not be seen at a glance.
The raging water was actually the manifestation of a forbidden dao power. Standing before it, one would feel like a tiny droplet in the sea.
Endless ocean, rushing above the nine heavens!
Such a sight astonished even Lin Xun. This was very likely the legendary Sea of Fate, a magical place transformed from the Kunlun Dominion’s origin power! However, he had never imagined that it would cover the entire sky, and that one could only look up at it like they were an ant.
“Huh? To think that we have a newcomer even at this point in time. Quite a surprise if you ask me,” an aged voice suddenly rang out from afar.
An alarmed Lin Xun instantly looked over, but what he saw was an empty expanse with undulating hills and open lands. The only special thing about this area was the light-gray mist covering it, giving it an incomparably mysterious vibe.
Lin Xun couldn't pinpoint where that aged voice came from right away. He maintained an expressionless face as he continued looking around. At this moment, he was standing at the center of an ancient dao altar. All around were wisps of law power that layered protectively over the altar.
Looks like people will lose some sort of protection if they leave this altar. Lin Xun vaguely understood. He was a complete stranger to this piece of heaven and earth. Other than the Sea of Fate, he knew and recognized nothing else. This forced him to be doubly cautious.
“Fellow Daoist, since you are already here, why don’t you step out of the Altar of Fate?” An unmistakably teasing chuckle resounded out of the blue. “After all, it's no longer possible to leave this forbidden zone that is the Sea of Fate at this point.”
Lin Xun looked over and sighted a hazy hill in the gray mist, on which was a sitting figure. He had been unable to sense the other party's presence due to the protective law power around the altar blocking his spirit sense.
“Heh, getting restless again, aren’t you, Old Monster Xing? Be careful now, what if our new friend is a tough nut that can beat you up until you're on your knees begging for mercy?” the cold voice belonging to a woman leisurely sounded.
“Don’t say that, our new friend will misunderstand me,” the figure sitting cross-legged on the small hill called ‘Old Monster Xing’ hurriedly explained.
Suddenly, a voice as deep and heavy as metal cut in, “Too much nonsense. Shut up and let me talk to this new fellow daoist.”
This voice was still reverberating when, in the distant gray mist, a tall and majestic figure materialized. He looked like a lonely mountain, clad in dark-red battle armor. His beard and hair were black as ink, his eyes zapped with electric arcs, and his magnificent frame emanated a powerful Eternal aura that belonged to the peak Creation Realm.
Following his appearance, all the sounds in the area vanished. However, Lin Xun noticed many gazes behind the gray mist quietly observing this place.
The tall man approached in large strides. When he was a thousand feet away from the altar, he stopped and fixed those electric eyes on Lin Xun, saying, “May we know your name, Fellow Daoist?”
Lin Xun replied with an unmoving expression, “If you give me a reason, maybe I won't mind announcing my identity.”
The tall man frowned. “You didn't strike me as the cautious type, but I guess this is only a normal reaction for a lone newcomer, considering this is the Sea of Fate where killing intent is everywhere.”
Lin Xun pondered. “So to speak, you struck up a conversation with me because you saw that I arrived here by myself?”
“You’re a smart one.” An unfamiliar laugh resounded from somewhere in the distance. “Generally speaking, someone from a big force such as an Eternal Divine Clan doesn't act alone.”
The implication was that lone wolves often didn't come from a great power, so it became interesting what this was hinted at. Lin Xun naturally got it. He nonchalantly acknowledged and said, “I’m indeed not from a big force like an Eternal Divine Clan.”
As soon as these words dropped, he keenly saw the tall figure a thousand feet away become relaxed. The way this man looked was also no longer wary like before and instead took on an arrogant color.
This alerted Lin Xun, and he inwardly put his guard up. Had the other party come to investigate his background and see if it was safe to attack?
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Hardly surprising, for all of those who have arrived alone at this Sea of Fate were just as vigilant as you,” the tall man said in his deep voice. “We as well, in fact. When we first got here, we were clueless like you are now. But none of that matters. What matters is that if you join our camp, we will be allies, and we will tell you everything we know.”
As he talked, his eyes stayed fixed on Lin Xun for any reaction.
“What if I don’t join?” asked Lin Xun calmly.
The tall man seemed to have anticipated this. He didn't miss a beat. “That will make you our opponent, and you will need to get past us first if you want to leave this place.”
“How do I get past you?” Lin Xun’s expression grew even calmer.
“By defeating us in a fight,” replied the tall man. “If you win, you can go anywhere you please. If you lose, you will be left with only two options.”
“Which are?” asked Lin Xun.
The tall man’s brows had become tightly furrowed at this point. “Either hand over all of your possessions to pay for your defeat, or join our camp and act with us in the future.”
Lin Xun breathed out in what seemed to be relief and laughed. “I thought that death would be one of those, but you guys are very careful, seeing as you don't easily spout cruel threats.”
That aged voice resounded in the distance, “Every single cultivator who risks death traveling to the Sea of Fate is a force to be reckoned with. While you are an unfamiliar face who doesn't come from a big organization, we don't want to make an enemy out of you and find out we've provoked a menace we can't handle.”
Lin Xun nodded. “I understand, but even though I’ve just arrived and am clueless about this place, what makes you think I would take the risk of joining a faction I know absolutely nothing about?”
“But you already have no other choice, Fellow Daoist.” The tall man seemed a bit impatient. “What’s more, I said we'd tell you everything you want to know after you join us.”
Lin Xun sneered. “Sorry, I will never agree easily to what I don't know all the details of.”
The cold female voice rang out, “Fellow Daoist, walking the Sea of Fate alone is as close to a death warrant as it gets. Part of why we invite you to join us is so we have more people to watch out for one another, and only in this way will we have a chance to compete with those big forces for a spot. I hope you reconsider.”
Competing for a ‘spot’?
Lin Xun’s eyes flashed with surprise. He had to ask, “What is this spot that you're competing over?”
“Fellow Daoist, you have too many questions!” The tall man finally lost it. “I’m asking you for the last time, what is your decision?”
Lin Xun sighed. “As someone who's new here, I really don’t want to fight those I have no previous enmity against. Why do you have to make it difficult for me?”
He indeed hadn't expected to encounter this kind of situation as soon as he arrived at the Sea of Fate.
“See, I told you. We could have saved all that bullshit and started off with a fight. A beating would have compelled this fellow daoist to seriously consider our offer,” mumbled Old Monster Xing on the distant hill as if he was helpless. “All that mouth farting, and for what?”
“You can never be too careful. Besides, there's nothing we can do if our new friend refuses to leave the Altar of Fate,” echoed the aged voice.
The cold female voice immediately followed, “Fellow Daoist, you are protected by the power of the Altar of Fate, but two hours later, it will expel you. A fight will be inevitable then, so are you sure you don’t want to give our proposal another thought?”
She didn’t seem fond of the idea of fighting. Lin Xun could discern the persuasive intent in her voice, but unfortunately, there was no way he would join their camp, whether he knew its details or not.
He shook his head, and the next second, under their astonished gazes, he walked straight out of the altar.
“If only a victory in battle would let me pass, then let's do it, right now.” Lin Xun swept his gaze around, eventually landing on the tall figure a thousand feet away before him. “Are you coming at me together or one by one?”
He stood with his hands on his back, wrapped in solitary as his indifferent voice resounded between heaven and earth.
1. See chapter 2332 for first mention of this. ☜
